Nigeria Fails to Meet OPEC Quota as Output Drops 7.9% to 1.322mbpd

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s crude oil production on a month-on-month basis dropped by 7.9 per cent to 1.322 million barrels per day, barrels per day in February 2024 from 1.427 million barrels per day in January 2024.

According to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria was among several countries given a lower target after years of failing to meet the previous ones. Its 2024 target was reduced to 1.38 million from the previous 1.74 million.

This information was revealed in its March Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR).

Despite the struggle to meet OPEC’s quota, Nigeria still retained its position as Africa’s biggest oil producer among the continental members of the oil bloc. 

Following Angola’s exit from OPEC, the second highest producer now belongs to Libya whose oil production for the month stood at 1.17 million barrels per day followed by Algeria which did 906,000 barrels daily. 

The report also revealed that the global oil production for 2024 from non-OPEC producers is expected to grow by 1.1 million barrels daily

As for OPEC countries projected output is expected to hit 64,000 barrels daily averaging around 5.5 million barrels for the year.  

However, based on secondary sources, Nigeria recorded a daily crude oil production of 1.47 million barrels for February. This represents an increase of 47,000 barrels of oil per day.  

For February, oil production from OPEC countries increased by 203,000 barrels daily to reach around 26.5 million barrels daily for the month according to data from secondary sources.  

“OPEC-12 crude oil production in February increased by 203 tb/d, m-o-m, averaging 26.57 mb/d, as reported by available secondary sources.”

Despite commitments to oil production cuts going forward, Saudi Arabia increased its oil production for the month by around 55,000 barrels daily. It also continued its unchallenged position as the largest oil producer in the world with around 9.01 million barrels daily.  

OPEC said that in the month under review, oil prices rose by around $1.19, or 1.5 per cent to an average of $81.23/barrel according to OPEC’s reference basket. Brent crude went up by 3.2 per cent to average around $81.72/barrel while the US WTI crude rose by $2.75 to average $76.61/barrel.